The Best Snowman Ever
by messington
Summary: A blizzard whips through Karakura, and the only thing on Orihime's mind is making a snowman like the ones she made with her brother, but making a snowman that's as big as her isn't as easy as she imagined. Luckily for her, help arrives. IchiHime. One-shot


I actually managed a one-shot. This is from the FLOL Christmas exchange. The prompts from Juuju were: hands, cold, and family.  
I think we all know I don't own Bleach.

**The Best Snowman Ever**

Orihime had a hard waiting until the blizzard was over. For the last hour of the storm, she sat at her window, watching the snow fall, waiting for it to end. Wrapped in a blanket, she watched the wind carry the large flakes of snow through the air and eventually to the ground. It was rare from them to get such a raging snow storm in Karakura. Normally, there'd just be a dusting of snow to cover the ground, which would melt within days. The last time it happened, there'd been a total whiteout enough to drop almost a foot of snow, and her brother was still alive.

Playing in the snow with her brother was always a winter memory that she cherished. They always lived in apartments and never had a yard of their own, but they'd stake claim on the few small patches of land around the building for their fun. With generally small amount of snow, they'd usually just little snow bunnies. As she got older, they'd have little snowball fights that usually just ended up as throwing a big dust cloud of snow since the snowballs never stuck together. Naturally, when the storm started, she made sure to sit in front of the small shrine with his picture, and tell him how excited she was to make a snowman once the wind stopped blowing so much. It would be a little lonely making one without him, but she decided to make sure to take extra care in making it perfect.

What had started the night before had slowly wound down by mid-afternoon, and as she heard the wind stop howling, she rummaged through her closet to find not only her warm mittens, but her brother's as well. She smiled as she brought them to her nose to see if her brother's scent still lingered, but it had been too long. A soft sigh escaped her lips. There wasn't a day that passed that she didn't think about her brother. Most of the time, they were happy thoughts like wondering how he's doing in the Soul Society, what kind of people from days past was he now alongside. Every so often, she'd find things of his that had been boxed up and never unpacked from her several moves. Things that he used everyday that were now neglected at the bottom of some unpacked box.

Then, an idea came to her. She'd wear his gloves making the snowman. That way she could have a little piece of her brother with her while she made the snowman. Now excited by her new resolution Orihime rushed to get the rest of her things and get started on that snowman.

***

Walking through the remnants of the blizzard before the snow removal process had started was just one big hassle. Ichigo trudged through the shin-deep snow, grumbling as he felt the snow creep into the top of boots and move inside. All this trouble for hot chocolate mix. While he didn't exactly like running these kinds of errands, it was so damn hard for him to say no when Yuzu looked as sad as she did. It wasn't just that either. Yuzu would be sad that they didn't have hot cocoa, and if he didn't do anything, Karin would start in on him and tell him that he was the one making Yuzu so upset, like it was his fault they didn't have the hot cocoa. Shoving his hands further into his pockets, he continued on to the convenience store. He really needed to hurry up. He only threw on the first pair of gloves he found, and they really weren't very effective in keeping his hands warm.

He rounded the corner to realize that he was on Orihime's block. The store was only another block away from there, but he hesitated when he saw her standing outside her apartment building. For this distance, he could only her hair color, but slowly he got closer to see that she was making a snowman. Well, she was trying to make a snowman, but it looked like she was having a tough time rolling around the bottom snowball. With the amount of snow around, she'd managed to make it huge, but with the wet snow, it was obviously very heavy.

"Inoue," he said, which clearly had startled her. She yelped out in surprise, then slowly turned around.

"You startled me there, Kurosaki-kun," she said, the pink in her cheeks deepening. "What are you doing out in this weather?"

"I was sent out to get hot cocoa mix for Yuzu, and the only connivence store that carries the brand she likes is the one on this side of town."

"Of course, Kurosaki-kun is so kind," she replied with that million watt smile for hers that always managed to make him suddenly lose focus.

"So, uh, you're making a snowman?" he asked to try and change the subject. Her face light up.

"Not just any old snowman. I'm going to make one that's as tall as me!" she replied, patting the top of her head for emphasis. "But, I am having trouble. I never thought snow could be so heavy. I mean, it looks like the ground was covered in cotton balls, and I don't remember it every being heavier than that. Then again, Sora-nii was always the one forming the shapes. I was just helping him. If Tatsuki-chan wasn't stuck in Hokkaido at that tournament, I'm sure she could help. I promised Sora-nii that I'd make the best snowman ever. I can't just give up."

His expression softened as she started talking. Most of tension he was feeling from having to be out in this weather was slowly melting away as he watched her expressive face display a range of emotions as she strategized just how to get the task done.

"You know," he said to interrupt her when she was starting to bring robots into the mix. "I could help you … if that's okay."

"Oh no," she said waving her hand in front of her, "you don't have to help me if you don't want to. I mean, I don't want to make you feel like you have to. Plus, you have to go get that hot cocoa mix for your sisters. I wouldn't want to have to make them wait."

"I don't mind, Inoue. It's been a long time since I've made one of these guys, and a little delay wouldn't hurt. It's not like they need that stuff right away."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to be the reason they get mad at you."

"They won't get mad at you, Inoue. I bet by the time I get back, they'll probably get caught up with whatever's on TV and forget that I even went out."

"Well, okay," she hesitantly replied. "But you should go once this is done."

"Sure, sure. Now what's next?"

"I think this one is big enough," she said, examining the height of the base. Ichigo noticed that it was nearly up to her hips once she stood next to it. It was no wonder that she was having problems moving it. "So let's start the next one. Kurosaki-kun should make the snowball to start since his hands are bigger."

With that, Ichigo crouched down to pick up as much snow in his hands as possible, but as soon as he submerged his hands in the snow, he remembered just how thin his gloves were.

_It won't be too bad. I mean, there are things that hurt more than cold, wet hands_, he thought, trying not to let the unpleasantness show on his face. Instead he formed the ball and set it on the ground to Orihime to start rolling.

As she rolled the ball of snow on the ground to make it bigger, Ichigo could feel his hands start to numb. He didn't want to shove them in his pockets, so instead he'd balled up his fists, squeezing them then letting loose the tension, hoping to get the muscles moving and the blood flowing, but it didn't work all that well. He could feel his fingers tingling. "Ah, Kurosaki-kun," he heard, snapping his attention to Orihime. There was no way she was done with the second ball just yet. "Are your hands getting cold?"

Of course she'd notice. He'd learned that it was a rare occasion for Orihime not to notice when he was trying hide something. No amount of fake smiles or even bad attitude would get past her.

"These gloves aren't really good for the snow. They're not even really that good when it's really cold."

"Then here," she said taking her over-sized mittens off. "Take these."

"You don't have to do that, Inoue. It's okay if my hands get a little cold. I'm fine."

"Oh, I have another pair," she said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pair of mint green mittens. "It's just that these were my brother's, and I wanted to try to have something of his with me doing this. But I wasn't sure if my hands would stay warm wearing mittens that are too big, so I bought my pair with me just in case."

"Are you sure it's okay for me to wear them?" he asked not exactly feeling comfortable to be wearing something that belonged to her late brother. They obviously held a sentimental value to her.

"Of course! I'm sure Sora-nii would want to help someone helping me," she said, handing the mittens to Ichigo. He put them on and his hand were tingling again. This time it was because of the warmth leftover from her hands lingering in the mittens. "Okay, now I think it's time that I need Kurosaki-kun's help," she said with a smile. "It'll be like two player Katamari!"

With a soft smile, he stood next to her and helped her roll the ball of snow. It felt good, just for a little while, to take a break from what was bothering him. He loved his family and he'd do anything for them, but there were times when he just needed some peace. While he often worried about Orihime when she was on her own or walking at night, when he was with her, the burdens he was carried as a protector and the stress of the day would melt away.

The only problem with that was that the time would pass far too fast. He could probably make ten snowmen with her without knowing that they'd spent hours doing it, because as soon as he knew it, he was putting the third and final part on top. He stood back to admire their handiwork as Orihime stuck in the carrot nose and hollowed out the eyeballs. They really had managed to make a snowman as tell as her.

"So what do you think, Kurosaki-kun?"

"I think…your brother would be proud," he managed to get out.

"That's perfect," she said, clapping her hands to together. "You can go now and finish your errand, Kurosaki-kun. I've held you up long enough."

For some reason, he didn't want to go. He knew that she'd be going back into the drafty apartment be on her own, and that didn't sit well with him.

"Would you like to come with me?" he asked, his words slightly running together. Orihime was clearly confused, so he felt like he needed to elaborate. "I mean, it's no big deal. Yuzu usually makes a whole big batch of hot cocoa, and we never drink all of it. I just thought since Tatsuki's stuck in Hokkaido and everything and you wouldn't want to be alone in your apartment. I mean, unless you do, then that's okay. I'm not making you come with me or anything. I just wanted to ask, you know, in case you did."

He knew he messed that one up. Thankfully no one else was there or else his reputation would have a big old black spot.

"I would love to."

Upon his insistence, Orihime made a quick trip to lock her doors, and then they were off. After the short walk to the convenience store, they were headed back to his house. Naturally, they passed their snowman sitting on the small parkway in a patch of green having used most of the snow in the area. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun, for helping me today."

"No problem, Inoue," he said, grabbing her hand. "I was glad to help."

He knew once he got to his house and he was still holding hands with Orihime, he wouldn't hear the end of it, but right now, he was just going to focus on enjoying the moment.


End file.
